I’m afraid the other threads just didn’t have enough spice for me!
I’m a big fan of CarPlay but can’t settle on which navigation app to use. Swap between Google and Apple Maps.
Which gets your seal of approval and why?
A big papery map balanced on the steering wheel works for me 😉.
For all other times when I forget the paper map I use Google maps.
Guess Navigation Technique.
I find Google clean and reliable. Have tried waze and Apple but always come come back to Google
Googlemaps > Apple Maps for me.
Although I do like TomTom and went as far as paying for the app. Brilliant for navigation in mainland Europe too with downloaded maps, via standalone CarPlay screen in my pre-Carplay van.
Another Waze user here
Tried them all but went back to Google maps. Since it's incorporating elements of Waze it's getting a little better.
Google user here via carplay, but I do wish there was an option to say 'I'm in a big vehicle so stop taking me down windy rubbish roads.' I'd rather spend 5 more minutes on a nice A road than the back road it sends me down sometimes.
I'd rather spend 5 more minutes on a nice A road than the back road it sends me down sometimes.
There's an option to prefer fuel efficient routes, that might prioritise the larger roads. Would be worth a bit of an experiment.
I prefer Google maps to Apple. But the guys I work with all use waze.
Waze is the top choice if you’re “making progress” but the guidance, satellite view and integration with dashboard turn by turn means Google is probably a better navigation experience IMO. That said I’m currently using Waze as I’m driving hire cars while I wait for my new one to arrive. I’ll probably switch to Google though…
I use TomTom when out on my motorbike - you can set how direct vs twisty a route you want...and it downloads all the maps.... so when you are in the middle of nowhere and don't have cell service you can still find out which way it was back to the car park..
The average speed camera functionality is useful at times as well - particularly if you go anywhere near the A77 to Girvan..
Drive 40-50k miles per year. Tried a few different apps and manufacturers supplied nav. Always go back to Waze. It’s far from perfect, but I like it.
Have to be very careful to close the app or it’ll rinse the battery if it’s left running.
Bulk of journeys always done using map in my head . Paper map on passenger seat. Last few miles of new destinations, usually by manufacturers in car sat nav, current Merc one not too bad, but not sure who’s system it’s based on.
Paper maps for time away in the van at weekends, but those trips tend to be to places where there are few enough roads to be pretty straightforward.
On the occasions we use Waze via the wife’s phone, it’s got us ( well me of course , because I’m driving) into some very very narrow road scrapes , because it really does freak out a bit and use the tiniest ribbons of tarmac, when it doesn’t actually need to, but I guess there’s something in ‘settings’ to sort that.
Google over Apple mostly because it puts the speed limit and actual speed on the map.
prefer fuel efficient routes, that might prioritise the larger roads.
Nope.... I turned that off as it generally took the shortest route even if that means country lanes.
Ended up in the arse end of Essex the other week being led down flooded single-track lanes with our left hand drive 6,4m high top van..... Less than fun.
I use the navigation app that sits just behind my eyes. When that doesn't work I use Tomtom.
TomTom. Still the best and a hill I will die on. Though it did recently take me down some kind of residents only road in London which earned me a fine 🙁
Paper map folks - I’m interested how you get live traffic data beamed into your head. Where do I signup for that?
Some of you are at the “tip of the compass” here.
I only really use Google maps. Found the speed limits pretty unreliable in Italy though. Maybe that’s not surprising.
Here We Go has usually been fine. Free and download any map you want, free.
The VW Discover Plus is always online and has given good re-routes around problems but no good if you are in a Dacia Sondaro, or similar....
I'm in a big vehicle so stop taking me down windy rubbish roads
There is an option to set vehicle type though that seems to mainly be fuel related. Maybe suggest a feature to them.
VW Discover Plus
Seems ok when I've used it in our ID (added bonus when using fire long trips is the automatic battery heating for fast charge stops). Does require a subscription renewal after a few years.
Mainly use Google maps but for long trips will be using the in car VW one purely for the battery pre heat.
What astounds me is that with today's technology, they still manage to make the built in sat navs so bloody useless
What astounds me is that with today's technology, they still manage to make the built in sat navs so bloody useless
This! Loaner bmw i4 I have managed to significantly misplace the AO arena car park in Manchester. It’s had its strike and it’s out.
Becomes more complex using a third party with electric cars as pointed out as you lose integrates state of charge info etc.
Apple maps for me. Google maps for my better half. How we are still married is a mystery to me 😉
The in built one on my last two cars (BMW, Skoda) were far inferior. The Skoda one required you to perform some kind of Fibonacci coding sequence to enter a post code. The MG one we have is pretty good for charging stations etc as it can read the car battery which i don't think google does.
I use mine all the time even when I know where I'm going. Didn't bother starting it on my way to Sprung in the FoD a couple of weeks ago. One road closed, one flooded both of which would have been flagged on the app.
Apple maps normally. I've used google before and like the in app speed function, I've tried Waze and wasn't for me.
Tom Tom app on my android phone via android auto.
Although it too is not without fault, I don't think there's a huge difference between all the main options.
The in built one on my last two cars (BMW, Skoda) were far inferior. The Skoda one required you to perform some kind of Fibonacci coding sequence to enter a post code.
This is where apps like Waze are cool. I can key something like ‘Redlands Parking’ and it will direct me to a spot near Redlands woods I can park. As someone has set it as a destination.
Same with other apps where I can just key in a business name.
I don’t need a postcode etc.
they still manage to make the built in sat navs so bloody useless
A former girlfriend's father bought a Peugeot, and you had to enter a street name to navigate to, it had no postcode function. At first we thought he was just being boomer, but it really was that bad.
and it downloads all the maps.... so when you are in the middle of nowhere and don't have cell service you can still find out which way it was back to the car park..
You can do that with Google Maps (Settings > Offline maps). I assume the same is available with Apple Maps and Waze too.
I’ve used NavMii for many years - covers the whole of Europe, offline maps etc and most importantly you can set the vehicle type so it doesn’t send you down tiny little farm tracks when towing a caravan. Google maps/Apple has lead to some massive humdinger arguments with MrsRNP naving.
Unfortunetly it isn’t supported/updated so thinks you’re in a field when on new roads.
Google Maps here. The number of WhatsApp groups I'm in where parents constantly ask "what postcode" for football pitch/other venue, rather than clicking on a link or - shudder - actually searching for the name of the place their offspring need to be at, is stunning. Having had several company cars over the years, the inbuilt satnavs range from shite to utterly dreadful.
Waze - FTW
If you like taking every tiny, windy road possible then crack on! 🙂
Google and Apple maps for me, not fussed either way.
What astounds me is that with today's technology, they still manage to make the built in sat navs so bloody useless
Ah-ha! I was going to Gatwick to pick up my partner a while ago and Google sent me to completely the wrong place.. I set the BMW navigation to the terminal (can't recall which) short stay car park and it took me right there! Only time I've used it though TBH 🙂
Built in Tom Tom is great with added bonus directions appear on the heads up display. Google equally good, but not on the heads up. Google more often as I've usually looked up a place on my phone, so it's plug in and go.
Google Maps here. The number of WhatsApp groups I'm in where parents constantly ask "what postcode" for football pitch/other venue, rather than clicking on a link or - shudder - actually searching for the name of the place their offspring need to be at, is stunning. Having had several company cars over the years, the inbuilt satnavs range from shite to utterly dreadful.
I like how you can W3W a place send a link then just Google Maps to it. So many people are utterly useless with technology
Anyone know of a version where you can tell it the size of your vehicle. When in the motorhome we have been directed down perfectly reasonable routes for a car that are a bit interesting in a motorhome
I’m afraid the other threads just didn’t have enough spice for me!
I’m a big fan of CarPlay but can’t settle on which navigation app to use. Swap between Google and Apple Maps.
Which gets your seal of approval and why?
Navigation wise theres nothing to choose between them but I think the bigger user base of Google means their awareness of traffic issues is quicker and more reliable.
I also use the speed limit indicator on Google - Apple has it for a lot less of the road network and I don't think it does the useful 'compare your speed to the limit' thing.
That said, Google was doing some weird routing on trips we do a lot in the second half of last year - I think they'd tweaked the algorithm for the worse. It was telling us to do an unusual route, and when we ignored it and took our normal route it recalced it as being quicker. Not a one off and not a single location
I hate Waze and the idea that there are loads of peoople interacting with the app to flag up stuff in road/speed camera/police ahead etc etc worries me.
Google Maps for me. I will often have some sort of link to the location in Gmail or will have looked it up previously in a Google search.
<Full on nerd mode> For day to day driving around cities, taking the kids to various classes (not that I don't know the way, I just want to know where to avoid) Waze is pretty good.
If however, you give Tomtom Go! a little while to get its local map of traffic cached before you start planning, then it beats it into the ground. It seems to know the useable cheeky ratruns that actually make a difference, vs waze's propensity to find any old route past, it also somehow predicts where the jams will be and gives the clearest lane and direction indications. Realtime traffic lags behind waze by about a minute so it can occasionally take you into a developing incident. Reroute planning should you make a mistake is blisteringly quick. I suppose the mobile speed camera alerts are a bit haphazard.
My only real gripe with it is for long distance tours, where its insistence on using frikking GPX tracks, rather than waypoints is bloody annoying. Yes I want to go here and there and here in that order, but I don't want you to blindly follow the route I prepared three weeks ago into the four hour autobahn standing football match.
For big trip preparation I use MyRouteApp. Being able to swap between Harry-Metcalf-Approved-Michelin, Tomtom, Here, OSM or Google overlay maps while toggling between routing engines from Tomtom, Here or Google is amazing. It make a huge difference for route accuracy and compatibility especially if you're in a group with people who have different devices. Not having to go anywhere near Garmin basecamp or plan.tomtom.com is a joy. You can also overlay previous trips or tracklogs so you can accurately plumb in a notable suite of corners, coffee stops or passes. It exposes the wiggly road button on tomtom as the afterthought it is. It's proper road trip planning nerdery heaven. I must have nearly 500 routes in it now.
While myrouteapp itself has a pretty good CarPlay compatible navigation app, for navigation on a proper trip an old school standalone tomtom is the only way. Faster, more flexible, less cloud dependent, less likely to have you at the road side staring at a screen going "what the $£"£$ are you thinking?"
</Full on nerd mode>
I'm on Android so haven't tried Apple maps. But both Google and Waze drive me crazy for different reasons.
Waze because it will send you down a goat track if it thinks it will save 7 seconds.
Google because it often says "Take the exit slip. Go into the right lane". Traffic is busy, nobody wants to lose a place in the queue, so you sit there with the indicator on, nobody lets you in. Eventually somebody takes pity on you. You queue in the RH lane. Some time later you get the next instruction: "Use the left lane to take the exit" 🙄, so you have to look like a right muppet, put the bloody indicator on again, hope somebody lets you back in to the lane you were in, in the first place.
I know what you're thinking, zoom out and look what the next couple of instructions will be. I'M CONCENTRATING ON DRIVING THE ****ING CAR, IT'S PISS WET OUTSIDE, CARS ARE TRYING TO CUT ME UP LEFT RIGHT AND CENTRE, WHY CAN THE SATNAV APP ITSELF NOT LOOK AT THE NEXT COUPLE OF INSTRUCTIONS AND TELL ME THE CORRECT ****ING LANE TO GET INTO
I hate apple maps because of the zoom level it uses - it's never quite far enough out to see where I need to go next. Yes, I know I can manually zoom out, but why? Google generally gets this right, although I note that on the wife's Skoda, the landscape format it uses often ain't too clever. Maps should be portrait as I'm going forward not sideways.
Plus, Apple (used to be) absolutely dreadful at the M6/M6Toll junction where it would put you in the wrong lane for the M6, then at the last minute tell you to move over. Caused a couple of barneys with her indoors, that one!
Plus, Apple (used to be) absolutely dreadful at the M6/M6Toll junction where it would put you in the wrong lane for the M6, then at the last minute tell you to move over
hah, I've fallen foul of that one myself. It does have some weird quirks.
I was a big Waze fan, but it's starting to look dated. My latest car came with Google maps as the sat nav platform and I've seen no need to switch to Waze in carplay.
Remember the days when SatNav used to spit the dummy out, because signal was mysteriously lost when entering the tunnel it has directed you to drive into?
Nobody had thought to code them to assume you haven’t been beamed into outer space and were probably still doing roughly the same speed or at least on the same road.
Things have certainly improved.
Really? Mines got full google maps built in. Linked to my google account and phone so i can send directions from any of my google devices to the car. It even knows if i'm driving an electric car or not and will route via charging stations and most efficient/quickest routes etc. Got speed camera notifications and speed limits, road obstructions/road works, diversions and live traffic and low traction warnings.What astounds me is that with today's technology, they still manage to make the built in sat navs so bloody useless
In the car, Google maps. It does everything I want, is simple to use and works well with voice commands to "navigate to". I've tried Waze and it was OK, but I keep coming back to Google. As above the native satnav in my Octavia is garbage.
On the motorbike a dedicated Garmin bike unit (Zumo XT). My Triumph has a satnav app which is almost unusable. There are plenty of Android auto head units for motorbikes now which run Google maps. If I was buying again, that's the way I'd go.
Sometimes I get to use waze for the spoken warnings but Google for the actual map - pretty much the perfect combo.
(Start directions in Waze on android auto and then open Google maps.... Waze keeps giving notifications verbally in the background)
Mostly Waze though 80% of the time.
my occasional commute is cross country and has loads of bits where traffic can be good or bad for no apparent reason and I find Waze to be very effective at getting me to my destination precisely as expected. some of the options are more effort / less relaxing than others so if I was in charge I'd like to be able to say this is the route I prefer, these are roads I really dont like, keep me on my preferred route unless thats slower by 15 minutes than the alternative and avoid the roads I hate unless its absolutely necessary.
first world problems tho right! I find it so much more relaxing knowing the time on the display is very very likley the time I'll arrive and other than not going down any farm tracks or across ploughed fields, theres no need for me to think about navigation at all
Do any of them have a decent "find me a supermarket petrol station thats not too far off my route at some point in the next 100 miles" to make it easier to avoid motorway service stations on longer trips? thats a feature id use a couple of times a year but never think to research in advance
Really? Mines got full google maps built in. Linked to my google account and phone so i can send directions from any of my google devices to the car. It even knows if i'm driving an electric car or not and will route via charging stations and most efficient/quickest routes etc. Got speed camera notifications and speed limits, road obstructions/road works, diversions and live traffic and low traction warnings.What astounds me is that with today's technology, they still manage to make the built in sat navs so bloody useless
Well yeah, you've got a car that's had it's infotainment system built around Android, not just some shitty inbuilt propriety shat nav system that the majority of cars come with
Well yeah, you've got a car that's had it's infotainment system built around Android, not just some shitty inbuilt propriety shat nav system that the majority of cars come with
I've got the worst of all worlds - a crap inbuilt sat nav system, and a car that refuses to stay connected to my phone for CarPlay (MG4).
On the back of this thread I tried Google maps via CarPlay today and "added a stop" at Wetherby services. I stopped and then continued on with the stupid ****ing thing trying to navigate me back to Wetherby for the next 15 miles until I had to (work out how to) edit the route on the go. Stupid piece of shit. Put me right off it.
I used the CarPlay in my MG HS with Apple Maps app once and thought it was great, 😉 , not had any use of others as I don’t go anywhere where it may be useful
I used the CarPlay/Apple Maps app once and thought it was great,
I'm going to try that next time. Ive been using Waze but it doesn't integrate with the dashboard turn by turn so hopefully Apple will be better... Google potentially has access to much more traffic/hazard data though so I would have expected it to be better...🤷♂️Not picking up that I had stopped though is a massive flaw and I won't be doing that again.
stopped and then continued on with the stupid ****ing thing trying to navigate me back to Wetherby for the next 15 miles
Dismiss previous stop. Easy.
On the back of this thread I tried Google maps via CarPlay today and "added a stop" at Wetherby services. I stopped and then continued on with the stupid ****ing thing trying to navigate me back to Wetherby for the next 15 miles until I had to (work out how to) edit the route on the go. Stupid piece of shit. Put me right off it.
User/idiot 😉 error, not the app. I never have an issue adding stops and then continuing the route
The Skoda one required you to perform some kind of Fibonacci coding sequence to enter a post code.
Yeah, I know this one. If you enter the postcode into the main search screen it'll only accept the first half of the postcode. You need to go to the next screen and then there's a button labelled [P. CODE] tucked away like a Shift key at the bottom of the keyboard. It took me bloody ages to fathom that out, I suspect it was originally designed for different territories and they couldn't recode it to understand UK postcode formats so they just Blu-Tacked it on elsewhere.
Google, because of the little car avatar.
User/idiot
error, not the app. I never have an issue adding stops and then continuing the route
Nah. How can it be user error. I stopped for half an hour and then carried on. I mean I selected Moto, Wetherby which was the actual shopping bit instead of the “services” icon which was the forecourt and I parked 100m away from the door but it refused to pick up a re-route, it kept telling me to come off at the next junction and showed the route going back up the other carriageway. Maybe if I’d ignored the next junction it might have cottoned on.. Still, rubbish. It possibly should have asked me even, if it thought I’d missed the stop…
Dismiss previous stop. Easy
Go on then, enlighten me…. I could not see any simple way of doing that. Admittedly I was trying to do this while driving but getting it to bring up the planned route where I could subsequently delete the stop wasn’t straightforward. I can’t actually remember how I did it now either… Maybe the CarPlay version is different…🤷🏽♂️
Google maps.
I just wish there was an app available that would let me put the destination nation in, but only start giving me the directions when 2 miles before the motorway junction I need to take.
I know my way out of Leeds pretty well so do not need any help with that, thanks. Annoying.
Which gets your seal of approval and why?
Neither. I use TomTom. I started using it around seven/eight years ago for my job, which was a logistics driver for British Car Auctions, and which involved me picking up vehicles from all over the country, driving them to a specific location, then either picking up another vehicle at that point, or being picked up and driven to another location where I’d pick up another vehicle. Approximately 500 miles a day, and neither Apple or Google Maps were anywhere close to being good enough, because they required a good network connection, and I can promise you, there are very large parts of the country with next to no mobile bandwidth, especially along the south of England.
I used to use CoPilot and Here, but my team leader ‘encouraged’ me to use TomTom because he got fed up with me getting to the rendezvous point late, and he thought it was the satnav I was using.
It was impossible to explain to him that we were coming from two different directions on different roads, so traffic conditions were completely different, so I just installed TomTom to shut him up, and I’ve carried on, because I’m used to it, I have a lot of locations stored, and I get regular map updates.
I don’t have any problems with Apple Maps, and I’ve used it on occasions, but TomTom ain’t broke, so I’ve no need to replace it. It’s a CarPlay app, so it’s there when I need it; I just plug the phone into the car’s systems and up it pops - BT doesn’t have the bandwidth for GPS usage.
I like how you can W3W a place send a link then just Google Maps to it. So many people are utterly useless with technology
I’ve been using W3W with TomTom for some time, it had a button at the bottom that said Navigate, tap it and the selected location went straight to TomTom, but W3W have now decided to join the subscription club, and that option is now only available on subscription!
I’ve contacted W3W, and they might have a change of heart, but there’s a workaround, c’n’p the location into the TomTom app, which is less than ideal, but that seems to be the way things are going.
At least I had the foresight to buy a car with no technology that can be turned into a subscription service!
Google equally good, but not on the heads up
Google appears on the ID7 head up. Not sure it controls the id light though like the built in does.
I like how you can W3W a place send a link then just Google Maps to it. So many people are utterly useless with technology
Why would you not just send a maps link and cut out the middle man?
The bit above from CZ about BT bandwidth seems weird as external GPS units back in the day connected to phones via Bluetooth and wireless CarPlay doesn’t use Bluetooth for data transfer. Carplay uses BT just for pairing and then switches to Wifi.
Wired connection used to be more reliable and phone needs to be charged anyway so it makes sense to use it on longer journeysh.
Go on then, enlighten me…. I could not see any simple way of doing that. Admittedly I was trying to do this while driving but getting it to bring up the planned route where I could subsequently delete the stop wasn’t straightforward. I can’t actually remember how I did it now either… Maybe the CarPlay version is different…
Just hit the X as if you want to cancel the navigation. It gives the option to exit or remove next stop.
This is on my phone though so would have to check it in the car.
The thing with going into a services (or any destination) you have to actually reach the coordinates it has as the destination.
Same with a street, you can't just enter that street, it has to be the pre determined point on that street
Approximately 500 miles a day, and neither Apple or Google Maps were anywhere close to being good enough, because they required a good network connection, and I can promise you, there are very large parts of the country with next to no mobile bandwidth, especially along the south of England.
You'd can download the UK map (or whatever area you want) and that issue is gone. Takes no time at all to do, and updates the offline maps automatically too
Apple or Google Maps were anywhere close to being good enough, because they required a good network connection .....[some other stuff] ..... BT doesn’t have the bandwidth for GPS usage.
Wrong on both counts I'm afraid - and the amount of data for GPS is pretty tiny.
In car satnav is crap & as above takes yonks to input a postcode but it is an 11yr old volvo, so stick with phone & Google maps. Sometimes throws a wobbly but mostly is good at avoiding traffic - used to drive 30k pa before satnavs so know my way around but now use Google maps all the time to avoid snarl ups especially with all the random HS2 road closures nearby.
I’ve contacted W3W, and they might have a change of heart,
Unlikely. What Three Words is evil and I refuse to use it on principle.
I take it back about W3W.
This is on my phone though so would have to check it in the car.
Thanks. Yeah I discovered it’s really easy on the phone app. You can also swipe up and it shows the route. I’ve yet to try it in the CarPlay version but it certainly wasn’t intuitive while driving and not having done it before. I’ll give it a go and see what’s what…
Ah, an ID7's HUD is probably a fair bit newer than my Vivaro Life Elite van HUD - that runs off the car's software, and just projects speed, speed limit and a direction arrow. It's ace.
The thing with going into a services (or any destination) you have to actually reach the coordinates it has as the destination
Pretty easy for the device to work out I’d stopped and was on my way again though. Or at least question it… “Resume nav to Moto or continue to next stop” etc. In fact thinking about it, I had my phone in my pocket and I went inside so… meh. If I find an easy way of accessing the route in the ACP version though that would suffice. I’ll try it tomorrow…
So it's easy enough to delete the added stop once you know how and a similar process in ACP to the native app so I'll give it another crack. I do like the satellite view and seemingly Waze notifications (well some of them) come through even though not using Waze for nav.
Carplay uses BT just for pairing and then switches to Wifi.
Are you sure about that? Pretty certain the unit in my Ford requires a wired connection for TomTom to function, there’s no wifi or AirPlay that I’m aware of. Newer vehicles may well have that function, but my EcoSport is a 19-plate, and shares everything with the Fiesta and Focus.
Unlikely. What Three Words is evil and I refuse to use it on principle.
Que? More so than Google? I won’t stop using it, the ability to find a location and navigate to it somewhere out in the countryside is a marvellous thing; trying to find a particular location in the depths of South Somerset or South Devon, when the satnav takes you to an empty stretch of road, you phone the person you’re going to pick up a car from, and they ask where you are, and you describe the T-junction and parish notice board you’re parked by, and he says, hmm, sorry, I don’t know where that is, it’s frustrating. There’s six of us looking at each other, trying to figure out what to do. In the end we carried on in the opposite direction, and eventually found the house half a mile further on!
Same thing on large business parks.
Well yeah, you've got a car that's had it's infotainment system built around Android, not just some shitty inbuilt propriety shat nav system that the majority of cars come withThe previous previous car was still on the basic map/navi package for Sensus, which was a bit clunky but worked perfectly across the countries i used it in (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, UK, Belgium). Only ongoing criticism was that the direction changes on voice were a bit late compared to the upgraded map package, or google maps on the phone.